Device for protecting ships against torpedoes



April 10, 1945. I A. J. SINCHUK 2,373,424

DEVICE FOR PROTECTING SHIPS AGAINST 'I ORPEDOES I Filed June .6, 1942 AWKSENTY J/A/cHuK INVENTOR 14 4 Mum ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 10, 1945DEVICE re traorccrmd smrs' Ac lNs'r a I ToRPEnoEs I AwksentyJ- Sinchuk,firidgeportpfionnw Ap iicafionaene 6-, 1942, Serial N r 14 4.27

"a c a ms." ((1114-2411) My: invention relates toanti-torpedo. devicesand has particular reference: to devices for tecting shipsagainsttorpedo attacks.

My invention has for its object to providemeans to'protectmoving shipsagainst submarine attacks and, generally, against attacks by.tor-.pedoes, whether launched from submarines, other warshi-ps,,.orfromtorpedo, carrying planes.

The most effective devices for protecting ships against torpedo attacksare nets, suspended in water at a distance from the hull of a ship. Suchnets, however, are not suitable for use with moving ships because oftheir great resistance to motion in water.

I propose to use torpedo destroying or catchnet or nets into the path ofan oncoming torpedo and to submerge the net. The net may be soconstructed that it will absorb the shock of the impact of the torpedo,so that the latter will be harmlessly caught in the net, to be usedagain, this time against the enemy.

Several such nets can be placed on suitable rails along the hull of theship, to be electrically operated from a central control point. The netsmay be further folded against the side of the ship when the latter issailing in a zone safe from enemy attacks.

Another object of my invention is to provide a listening device at theend of the net to facilitate detection of a coming torpedo and to givepedoes consists, of a main net I', preferably made.

i. e.; an operative position, with the net fully submerged, and aninoperative position, with the net and its supporting arms foldedagainst the side of the ship;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the same, partly in action;

Fig. 4 is a plan view on a reduced scale of a ship with my protectivedevices.

of a resilient steel. wireso that it "canb'e deflected. when struckby. atorpedo, thereby damp- I ening the'shock andpreventing. explosion of thetorpedo. I v v The net," at the same time, issufii c'iently strong topreventthe torpedo from. reaching the board of'the ship, even if the.torpedo'actuall explodes on contact with thenet. To protect the shipin' such an event, a horizontally disposed net 2 is added for catchingthe fragmented the torpedo. The main net is supported in a strong frame3, a similar frame 4 being provided for the horizontal net 2. Anadditional lighter net 5 may be provided in front of the main net, stillfurther to reduce the shock and to help to enmesh the torpedo in thenets. A safety back plate 6 is also provided at a distance from the mainnet, to explode the torpedo if the latter succeeds in break- I ingthrough the two front nets.

The nets are supported on outer arms I, hinged at 8 to inner arms 9, thelatter being hinged at I0 to a carriage II. The latter has rollers l2,slidably supported on vertical rails l3, mounted on a main carriage l4.A frictional brak plate IS with a spring is is provided for preventingviolent movementof the small carriage up and down when the nets areactuated by the waves. Guy wires I! extend to the outer bars from thesmall carriage for steadying the nets against side movements.

For raising and lowering the nets a small winch I8 is provided on thesmall carriage, operated by an electric motor l9. A wire or cable 20extends from the winch to a cross-bar 2| connecting together the outerbars.

The nets are held in readiness, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, whenthe ship is sailing in a danger zone. is shown in dotted lines. A float22 is provided for keeping the nets in a correct position, with thehorizontal net on the surface of water. The cable 20 is then loosened sothat the nets can move up and down on the waves and when the boat rollsfrom side to side, thereby insuring the proper operative position of thenets at all times.

A torpedo listening device, such as a microphone The lowered position ofthe nets moved to a desired spot in the path of an appreaching torpedo.The carriages are connected to a-cable 21, one at each side, the cablebeing operated by a suitable winch (not shown) for rapidly moving thecarriages back and forth. Both carriages can be moved at the same time,or each carriage may be provided with a separate cable.

The nets can'be folded against the side of the ship when the latter isaway froma danger zone, the folded position being shown in dotted linein Fig. 1.

Hinged nets may be added tothe top net, op-

erated by the torpedo itself, for'closing around the torpedo and therebycatching the same.

It is understood that my device may be modified without departing fromthe spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for protecting ships against tor- I 2. A device forprotecting a ship against torpedoes comprising a rigid board, means tosupport the-board under water in a substantially vertical position at adistance from the board of the ship, a horizontal frame extendingforward from the upper edge of the first frame, front and rear framesrigidly supported at the front and rear sides of the boards and at adistance therefrom, and wire nets stretched in the frames.

3. A device for protecting a ship against torpedo attacks comprising acarriage, means to movably support the carriage at the side of the ship,articulated arms extending outward from the carriage, a rigid framesupported approximately vertically at the ends of the arms, a wire netstretched in the frame, a second frame extending outward substantiallyhorizontally from callydownward into'the water, means to move the netalong the shipboard for placing the net in the path of a coming torpedo,and a' second net extending horizontally outwardly from the top of thevertical net, the horizontal net being adapted to rest at the surfaceofwater.

